The Guest
by Tsukiori
Summary: It's been a year after the events of Brennenberg and Daniel still hasn't recovered from his ordeal. He tries to hide from his past, living as a shut-in in a dilapidated boarding house. Then one day a guest comes a-calling...
1. Chapter 1

All of his days were the same now. He would awaken when the faint beams of the sun caressed his face through the chink in the curtains. After dragging on his clothes, he would open the door to his room just enough to snatch up the plate of breakfast his landlady laid down on the floor in the hall, put out the empty plate from dinner and his chamber pot. As soon as the sun would start to die, he would draw the drapes again-not wanting to see the darkness fall-and would light every candle and lamp he could fit in his small room. Every other day he would wait for the halls to fall silent in the in between hours after breakfast and before lunch-the other boarders in the ramshackled house having gone off to work or fled its oppressive charms-and dash for the room at the end of the hall, the room set aside for bathing. It was rare for a boarding house to have its own bathroom, most of them forcing their renters to use one of the numerous public bathing houses in London, and Daniel wondered if it was the reason his father had selected this place for him. If so, it was a rare kindness, one he would never had thought the man capable of.

Even after all the horrors of that hellish night in Castle Brennenberg had passed, Daniel was still a man who lived in fear. He feared the night and what it could hide, he feared his fellow man and the evil that lurked in their hearts only waiting for the right fertilizer to encourage it into bloom, and he feared his own past. If his crimes were discovered, even if he could barely remember the doing of them, it would be the gallows. He feared the judgment that waited for him after this life most of all. There was a ballroom of restless spirits howling for his blood and a little girl with a grim smile that was patiently biding her time to re-make his acquaintance.

To anyone else his self-imposed imprisonment would have seemed tedious, but he cherished his routine. Each day was exactly the same and he took medicine to make sure all his nights were unremembered. And he had books, so many books, new ones left outside his door every week by either his father or his landlady; he never cared to ask who had left them. How could he be bored when he could escape his miserable existence through the adventures of plucky street urchins and stalwart pioneers in the Americans?

* * *

><p>It had started off as a normal day, no ill omen in the dregs of his breakfast tea, no bird dashed against his window as an evil portent. There hadn't even been a sudden rainstorm to lend the atmosphere a certain ominous bent. The light had begun to fade and Daniel closed his curtains and lit his lamps on schedule. He hesitated with his sleeping tonic-delivered every Friday, also left outside his door. The newest installment of Dickens's serial had been waiting for him with dinner and he had forgotten about it until just then. He could put off reading it until the morrow, but found himself suddenly quite eager to immerse himself in the world of overly-wise and lucky guttersnipes. It might just keep his dreams civil.<p>

So he settled down in the only chair he owned, drawing it near the stove for warmth, and began to read. He felt proud of himself, staying up past dusk. He wondered if it was a sign he was healing at last… Then there was a knock on his door.

Daniel froze, his blood cold, his breath held. He was tensed to flee if the pounding resumed and if the door began to splinter inwards…but to where? There was nowhere to run, no hiding spot offered in this too small and cramped room of his. The knocking came again. Not pounding, he noted now, just a genteel sort of rapping. Maybe only his landlady or his father having been pierced through with a rare sense of guilt? Daniel made himself breathe.

"Who is it?" He called out. Only silence met him. He got slowly to his feet; his hands were shaking. "I asked who it is. Name yourself, please."

Again there was no response. Daniel rested his forehead on the rough wood of the door and strained to hear what was lurking outside in the corridor. He always picked the worst moments to be brave, he thought as he undid the latch and threw the door open.

"Good evening." The man outside smiled and Daniel was struck by how white his teeth were, how perfectly even. The man took off his hat and gave a small bow.

Daniel gaped at him. The stranger seemed much too elegant to be gracing this sullen house. He wondered if he were hallucinating. "May I help you?"

"I was wondering if this would be room 14. It seems as if some of the doors have lost their markers."

"I don't think they had them in the first place. It is, by the way, room 14. But I am afraid you must have been given the wrong address-"

"So you wouldn't be Daniel then, formerly of Mayfair?"

There was something mocking about the man's tone and Daniel fidgeted, uncomfortable. "I am he. May I ask who you might be? I do not receive guests. Ever."

"I was given your address from your father, a very oafish man, I can't see the family resemblance at all. May I come in?" He raised an eyebrow, that slightly mocking smile still gracing his face. Daniel stepped aside, cursing the manners that had been instilled in him by his mother.

The man still hovered in the doorway, his dark clothing and hair making him seem to be part of the shadows behind him. It was as if he were waiting for something more and Daniel shuddered, remembering tales of demons not being able to enter without proper invitation. "I don't have much in the way of food, but I could put a kettle on." Apparently that was proper invitation enough, for the man crossed the threshold. It eased Daniel's anxiety a bit. Surely an eldritch creature would not be able to come in at the offer of a cuppa.

"Thank you." His voice was deep and he put slight, but unusual stresses on certain vowels; Daniel took him as a foreigner, but could not quite place where from. The man took off his coat and looked around for somewhere to put it. Daniel quickly stepped forward to take it from him and his hat as well, but soon found himself in the same dilemma. He settled for placing them on his bed, hoping the flickering of the candles hid his flush of embarrassment.

"What a humble abode."

Daniel quickly occupied himself with making the tea, not wanting the man to see him bristle. "It's what my father could afford. I am thankful for it." He shrugged. "And it's comfortable enough."

"It ill suits you."

"I disagree." It came out a bit rougher then he had intended. He made sure his voice was more level when he spoke next. "And what business brings you here? You said that you had spoken with my father?"

But the man's attention was not on him. He was pacing around the small room, poking into the shelves and flipping through the stacks of magazines and newspapers Daniel had accumulated. "You appear to read a lot."

"It is one of my more happy diversions."

"This one." The man selected a French book that had recently been translated. "Tell me about it."

Daniel, a bit nonplussed, handed the man a cup of tea and began a synapses and literary analysis on the works of one Victor Hugo, a conversation that should have not lasted four hours, but did. The man asked very astute and provoking questions, and the conversation was adeptly twisted to encompass other authors and other works. Daniel realized after he had put on the kettle for a second pot of tea that he was having fun. It had been a long time since he had had fun.

The clock on the ground floor began to toll. Midnight then and Daniel hadn't even felt that sense of dread he usually felt as the night deepened. His guest grimaced and rose to his feet. "I must apologize. I have kept you from your bed much too long. I have no excuse."

"Oh, I really didn't mind!" Daniel scrambled from his perch on the bed-he had given the lone chair to his guest-as the man bent to retrieve his coat and hat. He followed him to the door, realized he was wringing his hands and forced himself to stop. The words "Will you be back?" were on the tip of his tongue, but he sealed his lips against the uttering of them, not wanting to seem… pathetic.

The man turned when he entered the corridor, taking Daniel's hand and bowing over it. Daniel froze, thinking for a moment the man meant to kiss it as if he were a woman, but he was soon released and the man swallowed up by the darkness. He hadn't even said goodbye…


	2. Chapter 2

Daniel hadn't even known he had been lonely until he had had someone to talk with. The morning found him lethargic, almost pining. He was half tempted to listen for the landlady's step outside, to fling the door open when she came with his lunch and invite her in… But he did not. He couldn't bear it if it were to become obvious that she thought him insane-like his father had when he had returned home.

Night fell and his hand once more hovered over the sleeping draught. Then there was a rap at the door. He practically skipped to it.

It became a nightly routine for the man to visit. In the daylight hours Daniel often wondered why he came at all, not to mention with such frequency, but at night, in his presence, the curiosity at it seemed inconsequential. He found himself smiling, laughing even, things he thought he was no longer capable of doing. Whoever he was, the man seemed a visitation from Providence. He eased something in Daniel, made him feel almost human again and not the haunted shell he had become.

He still did not know the man's name. Whenever he asked the man would divert the topic some other way. Daniel soon abandoned the question.

"You seem so fragile." His guest commented one night. He laid a hand against Daniel's cheek. "So pale and wane, as if the slightest breeze could shatter you."

"I am sturdier than I seem. I've just been…ill of late."

"And what sort of malady plagues you?" That slight smirk again, almost as if he already knew every answer to every question Daniel contained.

"Nothing to be concerned about. I am healthy enough."

"So a sickness of the mind and not the body then."

Daniel put his tea down with a little more force than he had intended, the liquid sloshing out and over his hand. He rubbed it on his pants. "There is no call for-"

"The truth?" The man cocked his head to the side, long black hair falling over his shoulder. "You are not a well man, Daniel. You know this."

"I-" He took a breath. "I think you should leave."

"And I think I should stay." Again a hand was laid against his face.

"Are you a doctor? A psychiatrist sent by my father? I thought better of you, sir. Sneaking in here and winning my trust through dishonestly; it's very bad form."

"I am many things. Maybe I could be considered a doctor if looked at a certain way." The man smiled and something about it made Daniel cringe back. "I was sent by no one, but if it is a healer you are in need of, I can attempt to remedy what ails you."

The conversation had taken a strange turn and Daniel felt the familiar panic begin to rise within him. "I feel tired. I think I will retire for the night. I'll see you to the door."

His guest laughed at him. Daniel was taken aback, not sure how to respond, when, darting forward quick as a snake, the man kissed him.

Daniel's eyes widened. It took him a few seconds of stunned shock before he thought to push him away, to stumble back against the window and scrub at his mouth. "Sir, what is the meaning of this?"

"I thought it would be obvious."

"I am not- Did you think-" He pressed his hand to his lips. "If you were told, by my father or by one of the other boarders, that I would…offer such services, I must disappoint you. I am no whore, sir."

"I did not take you for one."

Daniel, in his anger, advanced on the man. "Then why do such a thing?" He realized his mistake when the man did not back away, but held his ground. He was close enough to be able to feel the heat radiating from him, to hear the breaths that were a bit too uneven, too rapid, and to see the unnatural gleam in those hauntingly beautiful eyes which regarded him. Daniel tried to rectify his mistake, to retreat, but a surprisingly strong arm caught him around his waist.

"Why, you ask? I find you comely. I think your company entertaining and I have observed that being in the same room as you gives me comfort and eases my spirit. I had also thought that my affection would not be unreciprocated." That knowing smile again.

"I- Such things are illegal in this country. If we were to be found out," he winced at the telling use of 'we', "it would be hard labor at the most lenient, hanging at the worst!"

The man leaned forward, a strand of hair brushing Daniel's face. "Well then, we must take pains not be discovered then."

He had had to be held down on the bed at first, forced to accept the kisses given to him, but after a few moments of only those gentle ministrations, Daniel relaxed, even let the man give more heated and invasive ones. Feeling him submit the man let go of his wrists and began to run his hands over his still clothed body. _That is very nice_, he thought, turning his head to give better access to his neck, enjoying the light bites and suckling kisses.

A knee between his thighs and Daniel woke from the spell that had been cast. "What do you mean to do?" He tried to sit up, but the man merely leaned his full weight down upon him, pinning him to the mattress.

"Nice things, Daniel. Very nice things."

"I don't even know your-" Long and skilled fingers started to caress over the fabric of his pants. His eyes fluttered closed. "That is rather nice." He admitted, voice breathy.

"Think how better without your clothes in the way."

They made short work of disrobing one another and he was proven right. It was very very good without anything between them.

* * *

><p>Daniel woke up alone, naked, and in extremely good spirits. He rolled over and placed his arm over his eyes. He hadn't known that the body had been designed to feel such things. There had been some awkwardness at first, some discomfort and even pain, but his guest-lover now?- had been most patient and soon Daniel had been rising up to meet each thrust, writhing underneath him and stifling his cries by biting a very well formed shoulder.<p>

Afterwards they had talked, the man curled around him almost possessively, hands ceaseless petting Daniel, exploring him. He couldn't remember what they had talked about, but he remembered he had had a silly grin on his face for most of it until he was finally coaxed into sleep.

When his visitor arrived that night Daniel was almost shy with him, not meeting his eyes and blushing whenever he was addressed.

The man laughed and pulled him into his arms. "You are really entirely too sweet, my love."

"I am sorry if you find me too providential." He said stiffly, trying to free himself.

"On the contrary, there is something alluring about your naivety. I have always found it intoxicating."

"Have we met before then?" Daniel leaned back, avoiding the kiss the man tried to give him, and studied his face.

"Have we?"

After a moment of considering that handsome face, not much older than he himself, he shook his head. "If we have I do not readily remember it."

"Then it is unimportant. Let us move on to more pleasurable diversions." He tilted Daniel's head so he could whisper in his ear. "I have such wicked things to teach you."

Daniel shivered and let himself be led to the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

"In all seriousness, why me?" Daniel asked, sweat cooling in the chill air, half draped over his lover.

"I told you, I find you lovely, both in body and in spirit." Long fingers combed through Daniel's hair and he half closed his eyes in pleasure. "I have searched for a long long time and have found no one that could even come close to comparing to your many charms."

"My charms." He scoffed. "A recluse. A man so shattered by life he hides himself away from it, living no better than an animal." The petting stopped. "I am near thirty and I live off of my father. I cannot even earn my own keep."

"You are too hard on yourself."

"And you are too forgiving of my faults."

His lover stirred, sliding Daniel off of him so he could sit up. "Sit on my lap. Good boy." Daniel leaned against the man's chest, feeling the strong heartbeat against his back. The man ran a lazy hand down his chest, down his stomach. He raked along one thigh with nails surprising sharp and Daniel hissed. Then that hand was wrapping around his spent member, fondling it, playing with it. Daniel squirmed and turned to press his cheek against a collarbone.

"Hm. Look at you. You're growing hard again. So eager for my love, little one?"

Daniel blushed. "Yes."

"I find myself in the same straits." The hand left him and Daniel could not stop the whine from escaping him. "Don't fret so. Trust me." The man chided, amusement in the undercurrents of his voice, but when he made Daniel face him, straddle him, the only thing dancing in those strange eyes was desire, naked and almost unholy in its intensity.

"Like this? I don't know if I can. Facing you like this is embarrassing."

"Shush. There is no shame here between us. No need to be bashful in our love making."

"Is it love then?" Daniel's voice quavered and he bit his lip, hating how needy he sounded, how hungry.

The man smiled and gently brought Daniel's hand down to him. Daniel began to run his fingers over the other man's length, still timid after their many times together, still fascinated at the feel of it, the pulse he could feel under his fingertips.

"Many think this a sin, one of the vilest." He gasped as his hips were seized and he was pulled up, he automatically wrapped his arms around the other man's neck and trembled, anticipating the next act with wanton eagerness. "What do you think? What is this between us?" He begged.

The eyes that looked into his own, that shone with such horrid intensity, seemed almost demonic. His lover thrust up, entering him in one smooth flex of the hips and Daniel closed his eyes and let his head fall back, hair grown too long brushing his shoulder. "Beautiful." The man's voice was low and husky, almost a growl. "I find it beautiful." Another thrust and Daniel clenched around him, loving how their bodies joined, how they almost seemed like one creature in this act. Beautiful. He agreed, oh how he agreed. He was almost brutally lifted and brought down again and he couldn't stop the cry that tore itself free. He spread his thighs as much as he could and began to rock himself, loving the sharp sparks of pleasure that could be gained if he did it just right, if he could rub himself against that secret little spot within himself he hadn't even known about until recently. He was grabbed around the waist, whirled until his back was against the wall and he was crushed against it, but he loved that too. Barely able to breathe what for the weight against him, the man's hips working against him, working in him, with a hellish pace, the small growls of want against his ear. His head thumped against the plaster and his hands clawed at that broad back, slick with sweat. It was beautiful. So bestial and unapologetic. Like how it must have been before sin had been discovered in the Garden. Passion in its purest form and nothing shaming in it.

* * *

><p>"How were you untouched before I came?" He mused, running a finger across the bridge of Daniel's nose. "You should have suitors by the score, a graveyard filled with lovers."<p>

Daniel thought it an odd thing to say, but ignored it. "I told you, such acts are punishable here. Even if someone had the…desire, not many would give into it. The cost is too dear."

"All things worth the having come at a price."

"I guess no one thought me worth the paying."

"More fools they."

Daniel laughed and entwined his arms around his neck, bringing him down for a kiss. "You see me with love." He blushed, but was happy he was not corrected.

"It will be dawn soon."

"So it will. Lie back down beside me."

"I have to be away. I have some business I need to attend to." He rose with a last lingering caress and began to gather up his clothes.

"Business? Is that what brought you to London?"

The man gave him a smile and started to dress. "Yes, and I think that it will be concluding soon."

His stomach gave a lurch. "Does that mean you will leave me then? London. I mean, leave London?"

"London, yes. You?" He shrugged. He sat back down on the bed and gathered Daniel into his arms. "I have a proposition for you, dear one."

"What sort of proposition?"

"You once complained at being supported by your father, that it made you feel less. Why not come away with me?"

"And do what?" Daniel tried to push him away, but was held fast. "I cannot leave the room. Going out for baths thrice a week causes anxiety attacks. I live on my father's charity because I have no other way to support myself. I would be a burden to you."

"You would be my lover and I would take care of you in all things and would do so gladly." He stopped Daniel's protests with a hand against his lips. "Are not the daughters of your country treated the same? They live under the protection of their parents until a match can be found, someone of suitable background and means to take over the care of them, and then they leave to their new house, their new life. Why should it not be the same with us despite your gender?" He shook Daniel ever so slightly. "Leave. With me. It would be an honor to have the care of you."

Daniel looked away. "Your generosity is almost unseemly. I am troubled by it. You have no idea what you would be taking in."

"I can deal with your night terrors and your attacks of anxiety. If you want to spend your life in our bedroom, I'll confess that the thought makes me rather…pleased. You'll find me accommodating to any whim and any desire that flits through your pretty head. All you need do to see it granted is but ask."

"And what do you gain from this?"

"What I have had here in this squalid place these last few weeks: a companion and a lover."

Daniel looked aside. He didn't try to pull away again, even when the man began to kiss him, to run a possessive hand down his body. "Yes." He whispered, closing his eyes.

"What was that? I couldn't quite catch it."

"Yes." Louder and more firmly uttered. "Take me away from here. Let me live with you and let me try to take comfort from my past in your arms. If I won't be too much of a burden, let me love you."

"Your love it all together too happy of a burden to bear." His hair was wrapped around a fist and he was held in place as the man kissed him, taking his mouth as fiercely as he had taken his body minutes before. Daniel offered it all to him: his pleasure, his body, his very life if he wanted it. It was so good to be wanted, to be desired.


	4. Chapter 4

The whole day had been spent carefully packing. By the time the familiar tap was at his door, Daniel had been able to fit his better clothes and his few sentimental effects into one shabby suitcase. His lover came in, tossing his hat on the table. He firmly grabbed Daniel, holding his face still so he might kiss him and kiss him again and once more for good measure. Daniel laughed when he was finally released.

"I must admit I never expected to see you ever welcome me like this, let alone agree to be mine." He gave a curious half smile.

Daniel raised his brows in surprise. "And why would I not be pleased at your visits? You're all I have had to live for recently."

"You do say the most charming things. Ah, I see you packed a bag. A shame you spent such time preparing when it will not be needed."

"Why would it not be-"

"Come here." The man pulled him forward and Daniel eagerly let himself be embraced.

"Stop that! Surely you can wait until we have started on our journey some!" He laughed as he swatted at the hands that were undoing his shirt.

"This isn't a prelude to something sweeter, not yet at least. We can take nothing through the gate but the flesh we wear. No clothing and no bag of books either, I am sorry to say."

Daniel stepped around the table, putting it between them. His shirt was hanging loose now and he pulled it around him, suddenly cold. "Gate? I am afraid you have lost me."

"The gate, Daniel. The portal." He pulled on a chain around his neck and showed Daniel a locket. It was made of some grey metal and was of a blocky, ugly design.

"What is that?"

"A traveler's locket; a proper one. To think that it had taken that massive, hideous pile of stones and centuries of bloodletting to make its equivalent."

Daniel started to tremble. "No. No, it can't be. You aren't-" But when he looked at his face, really looked, he saw that it was.

"Younger and more handsome." He grinned and it was something half feral and half mad. "For you."

"Alexander." Daniel whispered. Then he spun and ran for the door, was at it in two paces and flinging it open…to be greeted by the dark beyond. He shrieked and fell back.

"Go ahead. Run from me. Whatever is the problem?" Alexander came up behind him and looked into the pitch blackness. "Ah, I see your landlady is too cheap to put out lanterns on the landings." He clapped Daniel on the back. "Come now, you faced the horrors of the Shadow, my own miscreations hunting for your blood, surely you can run down a darkened hall. It's only a few meters, the stairs are to the right." Daniel closed his eyes and hunched in on himself. "No, then?" Alexander gave a theatrical sigh and closed the door. "Come and sit down, old friend. You do not look very well."

Daniel let himself be led to the chair. A shove from Alexander had him seated in it. When he opened his eyes again it was to the surreal image of an Alexander forty years younger bustling around making tea.

"I saw you die. I thought I saw you die. The Shadow came and then you screamed."

"I made it through the portal in the nick of time. I'm sorry if that disappoints you."

"You screamed!" He emphasized the word.

"It did clip me a bit." He rolled up his shirtsleeve and showed Daniel the scar on his forearm, the one Daniel had often wondered at, had playfully pressed kisses on when they had been naked and cuddling. He felt sick. "I, too, must admit to being surprised to find you alive and well. You figured out all it wanted was its Orb back, eh?"

"Agrippa told me."

"Is he well and truly dead at least?"

Daniel didn't answer.

"Such an annoyance and not even a useful one it turned out." Alexander poured a cup and set it in front of Daniel. "Drink that and get yourself under control. We'll be off as soon as you've finished." He poured one for himself and sat on Daniel's bed.

"Where are we going?" For a panicked moment he thought the former baron meant to take him back to Brennenberg.

"Home, of course. Your new one." He picked up the locket and gave it a shake.

"You mean…you were serious about that? Why?"

"For reasons I have already stated." He snapped. "If you want me to give you a long list of your virtues, I will gladly do so, but I do prefer it to be when we are both exhausted and sweating in our bed."

"Your wife-"

Alexander snorted, his lips curled up in a snarl. "Ah, yes. My lovely wife. I was faithful for centuries, but alas, she was not." He rested his chin in his hand. "I killed her, you know. Her and her new lover. I was furious. You have no idea how hard it was to resist you, to stay true. How every time you asked me an asinine question or tilted your head when something confused you-which was often-I had to use every ounce of my will not to throw you over the nearest table and fuck you senseless."

"Alexander, please!" Daniel flushed.

"I'm sorry if I offended. You really are so very delicate."

"So you've come back…for me? I still don't understand."

"Yes! That's the head tilt I mentioned! Enchanting."

The beginnings of a plan were forming in Daniel's mind. If he could keep him talking until morning, if he could distract him until then, he would be able to flee. "Please answer the question."

"I have already answered it. The days we had together were sweet, even if it was a bitter sweetness. I had found a companion at last and an entirely too charming one at that; I was thankful for it. It was a pity I ended up breaking you."

Daniel shuddered, remembering the rituals, the tortures.

"But you ended up fixing yourself rather admirably. And I find myself once more in the market for a wife."

"You hate humans."

"I do. We can fix that about you though, no need to fret about it."

"I would be a constant reminder of this world." He began, desperate now.

"And I will not have gone through all those years of torment without something to show for it." He grabbed Daniel by the wrist and brought his hand up to lay a kiss against his palm. "You will be a very suitable prize and hard won."

"This is not going to happen."

"I think you will find it will. Now finish undressing. Or do I need to do it for you?" Such eagerness in that voice. Daniel closed his eyes.

"My father-"

"The man who thought of you as an embarrassment? Who would rather pay to shut you away and forget about you than help you? He's paid for his many sins against you. I saw to that."

Daniel sprung to his feet, cast around for some sort of weapon.

"Do not be tedious about this, Daniel. I have such a lovely celebration planned for our wedding night."

"I swear, if you try to take me I will- I will-" He snatched up a knife that had come with his dinner plate and held it against his throat.

"You look ridiculous."

"I would rather die than be with you!"

Alexander did not seem fazed by this. "You said you loved me." He gently reminded.

"I know."

"You promised me you would let me have you."

"I did, but-" Daniel felt tears run down his cheeks. "I didn't know. After what you did- what we did- how can I…"

"Everyone deserves a happy ending. Weren't you expecting one when you crawled forth from the castle? Was this what you envisioned it would be like?"

Daniel shook his head. "Stop, please! I-"

"You deserve much more than this cesspit of a world. And I do love you. Let me convince you. Give me the chance."

Daniel shook his head again, but lowered the knife. "I cannot. You say I deserve it, but I do not. I was a monster and I thought I had paid for my sins, but…" He looked sad, lost. "An amnesia potion and a night of horrors weren't enough to redeem me. This existence might seem wretched, but it is fitting. I am sorry if I…led you on. To be fair I would not have spoken so if I had known-"

Alexander sighed. "I cannot persuade you then?"

"I am afraid not. Leave me to my solitude again. I-" He searched for the right words. "I thank you for these last few weeks. They brightened my dreary life for a while and I will cherish the dream that was inspired by them, even if the reality was far from ideal."

"I know when I cannot win. May we shake, at least? Part on an amiable note?" He offered his hand.

Daniel hesitated and then took it. Long fingers curled around his and Alexander smiled.

* * *

><p>Epilogue<p>

* * *

><p>Mrs. Todd bustled up the stairs. She was running a bit late this morning and she hoped that the boarder of room 14 wasn't too put out at his breakfast being tardy. When she rounded the corner and stepped onto the landing, she halted. That was strange. The door to number fourteen was wide open. She wondered if the resident had left for once, maybe went down the hall for a bath. She approached it cautiously, her mind coming up with thrilling and ghastly scenarios for what she might find inside.<p>

It was a bit disappointing in the end. A normal room, if a bit on the cluttered side. Books and papers piled up in every nook and cranny and an unmade bed. There was one thing that was curious though, and she would tell anyone who stood still for longer than five seconds in her presence about it: in the room were two sets of clothes- shoes, pants, shirts-thrown down, crumbled to the floor, as if the people who had been wearing them had suddenly vanished into thin air.


End file.
